


Safe With You

by ShoulderHolster



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Caring Danny "Danno" Williams, Hurt Steve McGarrett, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 07:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18406352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShoulderHolster/pseuds/ShoulderHolster
Summary: Steve is hurting. Danny takes care of him.





	Safe With You

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on the archive in 2011 under a different username.

"Damn it, Danny, I'm not an invalid!" griped Steve as his partner attempted to rid him of his sweatpants and t-shirt.

"I hate to break this to you, Steven, but you kinda are."

Steve sat down wearily upon the closed lid of the toilet. It took almost all of his remaining strength to prevent himself from falling face first onto the bathroom floor. "Yeah," he sighed. "I suppose I am."

"Not for long though, babe," Danny reassured him, his voice softening at the look of resignation on the commander's face. He knelt down between his partners legs, ignoring the pain from his aching knee and said, "Look, you only got out of the hospital an hour ago. You need to give yourself time. Hell, even the doc said that it's a miracle that you are still alive after what that bastard did to you, so you know I kinda count this," the detective indicated Steve's various injuries with a wave of his arm, "as a win."

"Yeah, I know." Steve reached out and cupped the side of Danny's face with a shaky hand. "And I know I'm only here because of you. You refused to give up the search even though it landed you in a heap of trouble with the Governor." Steve's arm fell to his side and he took a deep breath as a pain shot through his chest. "I don't...I don't know what I would do without you, Danno," he almost whispered.

"Me too, babe. Me too. Now come on and get your delectable ass in the tub before you freeze to death," Danny ordered, knowing full well that it wasn't the cool air of the bathroom causing the tremors to wrack through his lover's body; it was the pure, bone deep exhaustion and after effects of five long days of torture and abuse. Even now, six weeks after the team had rescued him, Danny found it difficult to eradicate the image of storming the warehouse and finding Steve strung up like a side of beef with wounds too numerous to mention.

"And why you're insisting on a damn bath in the first place is beyond me," he added, shaking his head in an attempt to dispel the memory. He gently pulled Steve up and toward him and without complaint, Steve allowed the smaller man to guide him to the bathtub.

"Come on now, babe. Easy, easy, that's it," he encouraged as Steve slowly stepped over the rim, his hands gripping onto his partner for dear life. Steve panted through gritted teeth as Danny helped him lower his aching body into the tepid water. "That's it, deep breaths. You're doing good, babe." Danny wiped a tear from his eye with the back of his hand as soon as his lover was seated comfortably in the tub. He turned away briefly, ashamed of his weakness when Steve needed him to be so strong. It killed him to see that the usually stoic, ex Navy Seal was still in such pain and discomfort. And he was all too aware of the fact that it wasn't just the physical pain that tormented the taller man. Danny recalled the nights he'd spent awake at Steve's hospital bedside holding his uninjured hand, reassuring him with gentle words of comfort when the nightmares invaded his slumber. His heart broke a little more with every scream and sob as it was wrenched from his lover's throat. He could barely stand it and it was only the doctor's reassurance that it was a normal response that had gotten him through. The doctor had explained that regardless of the commander's background and training it was still a shock to the system, but with counselling and the love and support of his family and friends he was confident that he would make a full recovery.

As Steve lay back and closed his eyes, Danny soaped up a wash cloth and carefully wiped it over his lover's body. He hoped the soft and gentle caress of the fabric would comfort him as well as cleanse. Suddenly Steve's muscles tensed as the cloth glided over a particularly sensitive spot. His eyes shot open as an unpleasant memory assaulted him. Danny stopped immediately and cursing himself, threw the cloth to one side.

"Hey, it's OK, babe. It's just me," he murmured softly. "It's just me."

Steve's breath hitched and he nodded at the realisation that the hands upon him would never harm him.

"You're safe now and I'll never let anything happen to you again. Do you hear me, Steven?"

"Yeah, I hear you, Danno."

"Good, 'cause you're safe with me, babe."

"Yeah, Danno. I'm safe with you."

 


End file.
